


written in the stars

by starryboy



Series: you've begun to feel like home [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Canon-Typical Violence, Demigods, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Slash, Quests
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-03-30 20:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19034653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryboy/pseuds/starryboy
Summary: You shall go west, and face the love god of Rome,You shall find mini Death, and see him safely home,The child of Hermes’ secret comes to light,To satiate the god in half a fortnight.Of course, all it takes for Mark's life to go down the metaphorical drain is a quest.





	1. love takes an interest in me

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!
> 
> if you follow me on twitter then you've been hearing about this fic for months lol so here it is!! or at least the first chapter!! i have big plans for this fic and hopefully i'll be able to achieve them!!
> 
> so without further ado, welcome to the marknoren + jisung prequel we've all been waiting for!

Mark wakes with a start.

He pants out a breath, vaguely remembering the details of his dream. A gazebo in a park, Jeno smiling at him, his chest feeling tight. It’s all snapshots, but he somehow feels like it’s important. Most demigod dreams have an undertone of reality, actual events bleeding into hazy scenarios thought up by their minds.

Remembering Jeno’s soft smile, Mark thinks he might not mind this dream becoming a reality.

Mark rolls over in bed to look at the clock on his nightstand. The clock reads _10:27_ and he almost falls out of bed in surprise. He missed breakfast, and if he attempts to do any of the camp activities today on an empty stomach he _will_ die. 

He gets up as fast as he can and almost trips over his blankets on the way to the closet. Mark pulls out one of Camp Half-Bloods signature t-shirts and throws it over his head, running over to his dresser to grab a pair of jeans. He dresses as quickly as he can and runs towards the door.

Mark rushes out of his cabin, hoping either the harpies will let him into the kitchen to steal some breakfast or he can bribe the Hermes cabin into giving him some snacks, when he notices a note pinned onto his door.

 _Did you not go to bed early enough last night? You missed breakfast,_ the note reads, the handwriting looking awfully familiar. _Meet me at our spot._ Mark smiles to himself at the messily drawn heart and the use of _our spot,_ and heads out towards the strawberry fields.

It’s on the walk there that Mark realizes that something about today is off. He can’t quite put his finger on why he feels that something’s wrong, but he does. It doesn’t bother him too much, just throws him for a loop. Mark tries his best to ignore that in favor of trying to not let his dream slip through his fingers.

It inevitably does, but Mark gets a few minutes to replay Jeno’s soft smile before it completely disappears, so he considers it a win. 

“Took you long enough.” Jeno smiles up at him from the gingham print blanket he’s sitting on when Mark arrives. Random tupperware containers he hopes are filled with food take up the rest of the space on the blanket, except for the spot right next to Jeno, which looks suspiciously big enough for Mark to sit down on.

Mark smiles sheepishly, “I’m sorry, I just woke up.” He steps forward and sit down next to Jeno, not so sneakily trying to see what food he brought.

“I can tell, your hair is a mess.” Jeno bites his lip and reaches a hand up to smooth down Mark’s hair, and his stomach turns at the action. “I brought a whole bunch of shit, so dig in.”

Jeno has a calming presence, Mark has found after four years of friendship; he’s the type of person you can just chill with, not really caring about holding a conversation. Today, though, he has plenty to talk about. Maybe he sensed how weird Mark feels today and his need for a distraction from that, or maybe it’s just one of those days where he has more he wants to say. Whatever it is, Mark’s not complaining.

Mark enjoys listening to Jeno talk. He doesn’t do it much, his more introverted personality usually being overpowered by Renjun and his own extroverted ones, but when he does Mark’s always struck by how passionate he is. 

“I think I’m gonna go back to Boston for school this year.” Jeno says, voice quieter than it was before. Mark turns to look at him in surprise. His eyes are downcast, and his body language says that he’s uncomfortable and scared. Mark’s gotten good at reading people over the years, it’s helpful in all kinds of situations. 

Mark places his hand on Jeno’s shoulder. “Really?”

“Yeah, I just—I miss my mom a lot.” Jeno’s voice breaks at the end, and it reminds Mark about how much the younger loves his mom. “And my cats.” He adds on a beat later, half in an attempt to lighten the mood and half just because it’s the truth, smiling at Mark.

Mark smiles back. “If you go back you’ll surely suffocate to death because of them.”

“Death by cat, doesn’t sound so bad, does it?” Jeno’s joking around, but Mark can still tell he’s nervous.

“Hey.” Mark says, breaking the light mood. “I’ll support your decision no matter what. It’s not like we can’t write letters back and forth or something.”

Jeno smiles at him thankfully and pushes his shoulder. “You old man, I’ll buy you a phone and we can text.”

“They attract too many monsters Jeno, I don’t want to put you in danger because I miss you.” Mark says, silently regretting the last part.

Jeno’s eyes shine when Mark finally looks back into them. “The Hephaestus cabin’s been working on an upgrade to phones that block monsters from being able to spot a demigod because of technology, hopefully they’ll be done by the end of the summer.” Jeno looks so excited and happy that it makes Mark feel at ease.

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

 

Mark’s always been good with a sword, and after five years at camp he finds the balanced weight of a sword in his hand an extension of himself. It’s easy for him to zone out while sword fighting, allowing himself to feel and choose his next move based on his instincts, but today he’s having trouble.

“Dude, what’s up with you?” Hyunjin asks, panting a little from where he’s standing in front of Mark. 

Mark sighs and drops his sword. “I don’t know.” He makes his way over to the bench where Hwiyoung is sitting. Mark gratefully takes the water bottle he offers, chugging down half of it. 

This is usually Mark’s favorite part of the day, sword fighting practice in the arena with Hyunjin, a son of Nike, and Hwiyoung, a son of Ares, but something is off today and he doesn’t know why. Hwiyoung pats him on the back comfortingly and Mark’s back burns in shame where he made contact.

“Maybe you’re just a little dehydrated? When’s the last time you drank some water?” Hyunjin drops down onto the bench next to him, raising a hand to push Mark’s sweaty bangs out of his eyes. 

Mark holds up the half empty water bottle. “Just now.”

Hyunjin rolls his eyes and Hwiyoung laughs. “Well since you’re on break, Hwiyoung, fight me.” Hwiyoung’s eyes glint in delight, and Mark thinks about how bad of an idea this is (the last time they sparred with each other they both ended up in the infirmary) but Hyunjin takes the look as a challenge and before he knows it the familiar clang of celestial bronze hitting celestial bronze rings out across the arena. 

Mark watches as they fight, parrying and attacking, reveling in the normalcy of the situation. Hwiyoung barks out a laugh as he faints and then lands on blow on Hyunjin in the midst of the other’s confusion. Hwiyoung has Hyunjin backed into a corner when Mark realizes the time.

“Hey guys!” Mark yells out over the sounds of swords hitting each other. “I have archery like right now! I’ll see you later!” Both boys yell out their farewells, too focused on each other to properly send him off, but it’s normal, and after how weird he’s felt all day it’s welcomed.

Mark makes his way over to the archery range and prays to whatever God is listening that he doesn’t fuck up royally today.

 

 

“Mark, what the actual fuck was that?” Renjun yells as Mark, yet again, sends an arrow flying past the target.

He lets his arms fall to his sides, panting in the summer heat. “I don’t know! I’m trying my best!” Felix and Yuqi from the Apollo cabin look at him with a mix of pity and disgust in their eyes. Turning back around to look at Renjun, he just has disgust in his eyes. 

Archery has never been Mark’s strong suit, but he had gotten better at it the past couple of months, he promises. Mark has no idea why he’s so off today, and it’s getting a little bit frustrating.

“You got three bullseyes in a row yesterday, don’t tell me you already forgot how to shoot a bow correctly.” Renjun says, lips curled in delight. His smile falters when he sees the frustrated look on Mark’s face. “Hey, let’s take a break, yeah?”

Renjun leads him over to the edge of the woods, waving his goodbye to the Apollo kids. They sit in the shade of a sugar maple tree, chugging down water bottles in silence. Mark stares up at the leaves of the tree when he finishes, drinking in the coolness of the shade. There’s a loud pop! heard and before Mark knows the tree isn’t the only thing casting a shadow onto him.

“You look like shit Mark Lee,” Mark sighs and looks up at the intruder on his peace and quiet.

Jihoon stares at him expectantly, hands on his hips. “Hello Jihoon, nice to see you too.” Mark says dryly, rolling his eyes at the nymph. Jihoon usually is a nice person, but last week Mark sent an arrow flying straight into his tree, so he’s a little pissed. 

“Hey Hoonie, how’s the forest life treating you?” Renjun asks, taking the attention away from Mark. He lets out a sigh of relief, totally expecting a long drawn out lecture from the nymph about proper archery techniques, even though he’s never seen Jihoon use a bow before.

Jihoon smiles at Renjun. “It’s good, nothing bad has happened lately.” With that he sends a pointed stare in Mark’s direction. He continues on after that, but Mark doesn’t pay the pair any mind.

Mark zones out, looking up at the sky. Part of him wants to get up and head to the pegasus stables; they like him there, and conversations with them are always entertaining, but that takes energy he doesn’t have.

Instead, he let’s Renjun and Jihoon’s conversation play as background music to his thoughts. Mark thinks about the eerie feeling that’s been following him around all day. He isn’t able to figure anything about it out, though, so he just feels worse.

“Hey,” Renjun shakes him reverie. “it’s time for lunch.” Mark furrows his brow, not sure how that much time passed like nothing, but allows the younger to help him off the ground. They say their goodbyes to Jihoon, who smiles at Renjun and glares at him.

Mark follows Renjun to the dining pavillion when the back of his head burns, like somebody’s staring at him. He turns around expecting to see Jihoon, but he’s nowhere to be found. 

“Dude,” Renjun says, and Mark spins around to face him. “what’s wrong?”

Mark shakes his head, “Nothing, it was just—nothing.” Renjun stares at him oddly before continuing on his way, Mark at his heels.

 

 

Mark’s shoveling a spoonful of applesauce into his mouth when all hell breaks loose. Shadows envelop the dining pavilion in darkness and shouts of surprisal spill from the campers mouths. Mark vaguely makes out Chiron standing up at the head table, telling everyone to calm down. 

A laugh echoes around the room, and he hears an unmistakable _oh fuck_ come from Renjun. The shadows fall away revealing a man with a golden bow and arrow strapped to his back. 

“Eros,” Chiron says sternly. “What are you doing here?” A hush falls through the crowd of teenagers, waiting for the God to speak.

Eros pulls a golden arrow out his quiver. “I’m here to issue a quest.” He looks straight at Mark, a glint in his eyes, and Mark momentarily forgets how to breathe.

The God looks young, not Hestia young, but more like a college student. That doesn’t make him any less intimidating, though, Mark would rather run away than confront him. His shaggy black hair falls into his equally as black eyes, a smirk adorning his thin lips. He almost looks like an older Jeno, with his strong features and curious eyes, but where there would be kindness there’s only malice. It takes Mark a moment to realize it, but once he does all the similarities seem to disappear.

“What is the quest?” Chiron’s eyes are hard as they stare at the God, watching his every movement in the off chance he’s here to hurt one of the campers.

“I want to make a potion, but for that I need ingredients, and I can’t get them myself,” Eros says, lightly hitting his palm with the arrow. Mark stares at him, trying to piece together the information he was just given, but instead, he blanks the second Eros looks up at him and smiles. It’s not a nice smile, there’s an undertone of deviance, but it still makes a blush crawl up from his chest to settle at the tips of his ears.

Chiron looks between Eros and him and Mark sinks in his seat. “Do you have any requests for who is to lead it?” 

Eros smirks at Chiron, then whips around to point at Mark with his arrow. “Mark will lead the quest. It’s about damn time he had one. How old is he, fourteen?”

Everyone in the dining pavilion turns to look at him, and Mark feels like crawling into a hole at the attention. “I-I’m fifteen.” Renjun and Jeno stare at him with wide eyes. It’s a big deal to get a quest, and an even bigger one to get one directly from a God.

“Great, you’ll probably stand up to my parents’ defenses,” Eros says dismissively, waving a hand at Mark, moving to walk out of the room. 

Mark pauses, trying to process everything. “Wait, what do you mean by your parents’ defenses?”

“Well, the potion is for them, so I would assume that they wouldn’t want you to complete the list of ingredients,” Eros rolls his eyes like it’s obvious. Mark doesn’t think it’s obvious.

“Why not?”

Eros smiles coldly at him, and for the first time since he appeared, Mark truly feels how powerful the God is. “It’s a hate potion, my boy.”

Mark hesitates in trying to find a response, and Eros takes advantage of that “Well, now that I’ve issued the quest I should probably leave.” He looks straight at Mark, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand end. “Good luck Mark. Start in Manhattan, you’ll find the first part of the puzzle there.” And with that the shadows envelop the dining pavilion once again, and when they dissipate the God is gone and there’s a yellowing map in front of Mark on the table.

The pavilion falls into silence, everyone too shocked to say anything. Chiron breaks the silence. “I think… I think it’s time for Mark to go to the cave.”

 

 

Mark’s spent a considerable amount of time in the Cave; He’s quite good friends with the oracle, and since they’re the same age they hung out a lot as they grew up. Mina comes from a family of mortals with the ability to see through the mist who’s—if they want it—daughters become the oracle. There have been some blips in the system, but it’s worked pretty well for the past couple of generations, and Mark’s glad because if it didn’t he wouldn’t have her as a friend.

He pushes aside the curtains when he finally reaches the cave, a little winded from the borderline hike to get there. “Mina?” He calls out, eyes adjusting to the poor lighting in the room.

“Mark? What are you doing here?” The cavern lights up at her words, torches and lamps turning on all around him, leaving a well light room in its wake. 

He spots Mina laying on her bed, scrolling through Instagram. “Guess who finally has a quest?”

“Holy shit, really?” Mark nods and she launches off the bed to pull him into a tight hug. “Oh my Gods Mark, you’ve been waiting for this forever. I’m so happy for you!” 

“Eros personally gave it to me,” Mark says, pulling away from the hug. She smiles up at him, Mark having finally shot up past her height, and he smiles back.

“That’s so wonderful,” Mina says, stepping back until the back of her knees hit the couch on the far wall. “I think you have something to ask me now.”

“Mina,” he smiles at her and she returns the favor. “What is my prophecy?” 

She closes her eyes and falls onto the couch behind her. Green smoke circles around her feet, unsettling Mark. Mina opens her eyes and they’re glowing, staring straight at Mark, and he unconsciously backs away from her. 

_“You shall go west and face the love God of Rome,”_ green mist spills from her mouth as she speaks, voice raspy and deep in a way Mark’s never heard before. _“You shall find mini death and see him home,”_ he’s heard prophecy’s being issued before, but there’s something so unnerving about hearing one about him. _“The child of Hermes’ secret comes to light, to satiate the God in half a fortnight”_

When she finishes she collapses, the emerald mist blowing away until there’s nothing left. Mark runs to her, fanning her face in hopes of her waking up. Mina stirs after a couple minutes of Mark desperately waving his hand back and forth.

She sits up. “What’s the prophecy?” Mark recites the prophecy, stumbling on the last line. “Damn.”

“I don’t like the sound of it,” Mark says, nervously scratching at the back of his head, anxiety slowly clawing at his chest.

Mina stares blankly at him. “That’s not my problem, kid. Goodbye and good luck”

 

 

It’s nearing mid-afternoon when Mark finally leaves the cave. He’s in a trance, mind repeating the prophecy over and over again, like a mantra. Mark tries his best to figure it out, but he’s in too much of a daze to think clearly.

He makes his trek southwest towards the Big House, occasionally tripping over his own feet. When he nears it he hears Renjun shout his name. 

“Mark, what did the oracle say?” Chiron says when he makes it within earshot.

Mark takes a deep breath, “You shall go west, and face the love God of Rome, you shall find mini death, and see him safely home, the child of Hermes’ secret comes to light, to satiate the God in half a fortnight.” 

There’s a beat of silence after he finishes, and when Mark looks up he’s faced with the concerned faces of his best friends. It makes him feel better, just a little bit. 

Chiron looks at him expectedly, “Mark, who do you choose to accompany you?” 

“Jeno and Renjun,” Mark says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. He turns to look at the pair. Maybe everything will be okay.

Renjun looks excited, Mark knows he’s been dying to leave camp for a while now, but Jeno looks scared. Mark’s face falls when he meets the younger’s eye, and Jeno quickly puts a smile on his face, but that doesn’t make him feel better. 

“Do you two accept?” Chiron asks, staring especially hard at Jeno.

Renjun smiles. “Of course, he’d die without me.” Mark laughs and Renjun hits him on the shoulder. “You know I’m telling the truth.

They both look at Jeno with anticipation clear on their faces. Jeno hesitates. “Y-Yeah, I’ll come with.” 

“Okay. It wouldn’t do you boys good to leave right now. You’ll start in the morning. Get a good night's rest, you’ll need it,” Chiron says before excusing himself, trotting up the stairs and into the house.

Mark’s mind wanders. This time tomorrow he’ll be on his first quest, most likely fucking something up, and he feels his heart rate speed up. He grabs his head in his hands and runs. 

 

 

Mark stumbles into the Poseidon cabin with his head in his hands, Renjun and Jeno worriedly trailing after him. He walks over to his bed blindly, greedily sucking in breaths, trying to calm himself down. 

“Mark—” Renjun tests the waters, coming closer to him, a small hand resting on his bicep. “C’mon buddy, talk to us.” Mark peeks through his fingers and sees the concerned faces of his friends. He feels a pang of disappointment in himself in his chest. He’s Mark Lee, son of Poseidon; it’s his job to be the leader, to be brave, but he doesn’t feel brave right now, he’s terrified.

“What am I gonna do?” Mark breathes out, pulling his hands away from his face in favor of pulling at his hair. “Oh Gods, maybe this was a bad idea. I can’t lead a quest, what if something goes wrong?”

Renjun glares at him. _“What am I gonna do?”_ He spits out, crossing his arms over his chest. “Dumbass. You’re going to take me and Jeno and we’re gonna do our fucking best.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re bad at pep talks?” Jeno says, moving forward to stand next to Renjun, smiling playfully at him.

“Fuck off Jeno,” Renjun pushes him lightly. Eyes narrowed, he turns back towards Mark. “Mark, are we doing this or not?”

Mark considers it. Yeah, he’s afraid of failing, but if there’s anything he’s learned from being friends with Jeno and Renjun it’s that anything’s possible when he has them by his side. “Yeah, we are.”

 

 

Dinner is uncomfortable to say the least. Everyone stares at the three of them, and Mark finds it hard to focus on eating when he can feel the entire population of Camp Half Bloods eyes on him as he does it. 

Chiron addresses the pavilion, telling them to send prayers for the trio’s safe return from the quest, but Mark tunes it out. The quest hasn’t even started and he’s already tired of it.

Jeno sits down in front of him when he’s about to get up and leave. “Hello.” He looks sheepish, a hand carding through his hair as he tries to ignore all the stares burning a hole into his back. 

Mark immediately feels himself relax. “Hey.”

“Are you done?” Jeno asks, eyeing Mark’s half eaten dinner. Part of Mark thinks that he should finish the rest, that he needs a good last meal before he leaves for the quest, but this is the most uncomfortable dinner he’s had since he was claimed.

“Yeah,” Mark says, getting up from the table. Jeno follows him, smile still on his face. Mark furrows his brow in confusion.

“Can I walk you back to your cabin?” Jeno scratches at the back of his head, looking significantly more embarrassed than he did when he first walked over.

Mark huffs out a laugh, “Yeah, of course.”

 

 

The walk back to the cabins is quiet, but Mark’s come to expect that from Jeno. He doesn’t mind it, though, after all that happened today he welcomes the quiet. It’s calming, walking next to Jeno, and it makes Mark relax in the same way he made him relax that morning in the strawberry fields.

Jeno slows down once the Poseidon cabin gets near, speaking for the first time since they left the dining pavilion. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“What is that?” Mark asks playfully, small smile making its way onto his face.

“You’re scared you’ll fail,” Jeno says, and Mark hugs himself, annoyed at how easily Jeno read him. “But you shouldn’t be, nothing’s gonna go wrong.”

Mark opens his mouth to reply, eyes wide at how serious Jeno sounds, but the younger stops walking before he can. They’re already at his cabin, and Mark feels a pang of disappointment when he realizes it. 

Jeno grabs his hand. “Don’t stay up too late worrying, Mark. Everything’s gonna be okay,” Jeno says, hand fiddling with Mark’s fingers. 

Mark smiles at him, glad to have a friend like him in his life. “I’ll try not to. Sleep well Jeno.”

Jeno sends him a soft smile before turning around to make his way back to his cabin. Mark watches him go with a weird feeling in his chest. Once Jeno disappears from his sight he makes his way into the Poseidon cabin and gets ready for bed.

 

 

Mark dreams about Jeno. It’s been happening a lot lately, the younger making an appearance while he sleeps, but it doesn’t bother Mark. He quite enjoys the scenarios his mind conjures up; a picnic at some park in Jeno’s hometown, strolling through a small bookstore in downtown Manhattan, a fancy dinner with Jeno dressed up equally as fancy, a borderline uncomfortable look on his face as he smooths down his suit jacket. 

Sometimes they’re more subdued. A lazy day in Mark’s cabin, Jeno’s legs thrown across his lap, his own hand rubbing circles into the younger’s thigh, blushing at the bashful smile Jeno sends his way. Chatting at lunch while they’re sitting at the same table—which is technically against the rules, but it’s his dream so he can do what he wants—holding hands under the table.

Tonight they’re on a cruise ship, wandering through the empty halls. There’s a tense energy following them, and it disappoints Mark, wishing it was more light-hearted like usual. Something in the scene changes, though Mark can’t see what, and Jeno’s face falls, a look of pure terror replacing the happiness on his face. He’s about to ask what’s wrong when everything goes black, darkness surrounding them.

 

 

Mark wakes with a start. The dizzying feeling of deja vu surrounds him, this morning being too much like the one before. He stares at the ceiling for a good fifteen minutes when he wakes up, wondering what his dream meant until he gets distracted by the pictures hung up. They’re all of either Renjun, Jeno, him, or some combination of the trio. 

It fills Mark’s heart with warmth, seeing the pictures that span from when they first met to just a few weeks ago; it reminds him that these are his best friends and even though a lot of unfavorable outcomes happen when they get together, everything always ends up okay, and that gives him hope that this quest won’t be an absolute disaster. 

He remembers the first time he met Renjun. He was a tiny angry kid and if Mark’s being honest, he was a little bit scared of the younger. Ten year old Renjun had a look behind the eye that put Mark on edge, a look that simultaneously frightened and intrigued him. 

Jeno was, and still is, a quiet kid. He always had a smile on his face though, never one to look unhappy, always taking everything the fates threw at him with grace. Mark thought Jeno hated him for the first couple months he was at camp because he refused to look him in the eye, but he got over it and quickly—with the help of Renjun—became Mark’s best friend. 

Mark’s in good hands with the two of them, he knows that he can lean on them no matter what, but there’s still a tiny part of him that doesn’t want to seem weak in front of them. He knows that there’s no way Renjun will ever think he’s _cool,_ but Jeno still sometimes looks at him with adoration in his eyes, and it makes him happy that he looks up to him—he’d never want to do anything to risk Jeno stopping, the fact that he thinks Mark’s, as childish as it sounds, cool makes him feel giddy inside. 

Taking in a few deep breaths, Mark sits up in bed and goes to get ready for the first day of his very first quest.

 

 

Renjun’s waiting for him outside the Poseidon cabin. “Good morning Markie! Did you sleep well?” 

Mark cringes. “Gods, why are you so happy so early in the morning?”

“It’s our first quest! Aren’t you excited?” Renjun asks him, practically bouncing with excitement.

“Not excited enough to be screaming at eight in the morning.” Mark says, walking past the other.

Renjun rolls his eyes. “You’re so lame.”

“And you’re mean. C’mon, we have to meet up with Chiron.”

Renjun rambles as they walk, wondering aloud about the specifics of the quest; like what monsters they’ll encounter or what the ingredients of the potion are. Mark can’t quite bring himself to tell him to shut up, he knows that the younger’s doing it out of nerves, but it’s just making him more nervous.

He stops abruptly when they make it to the big house and find Chiron already on the porch. “Good, you two are awake,” Chiron looks at the glaringly empty space beside Mark. “Where’s Jeno?”

“He’s getting some supplies from the camp store.”

“Good, you’ll definitely need them,” Chiron says, mumbling almost to himself. Mark’s stomach tightens at his words. “Argus will drive you to wherever you need, I trust you have a plan.”

Mark opens his mouth to admit he has no idea what to do when Renjun cuts him off. “We do! Don’t worry, Mark’s not an idiot.” Renjun punctuates the sentence by glaring at him, and he lowers his head in embarrassment. 

“Alright then,” Chiron says, trailing off and looking somewhere behind Mark. He turns around to find Jeno running towards them and he can’t help the smile it brings to his face. Jeno’s face is flushed, black hair slightly damp and curling at the ends, like he just got out of the shower, and he eyes are barely open, his signature smile beaming towards them.

“Sorry! I’m sorry I’m late,” Jeno pants out, running into Mark when he reaches them. Mark holds him steady as he breathes. “You have no idea what I had to do to get these.” He gestures to the backpack hanging off of his shoulders. 

Even Chiron can’t help but brighten up at Jeno’s presence. “That’s okay Jeno, Mark and Renjun can fill you in on what we talked about. Now, I believe the rest of the campers want to send you off. Follow me.”

 

 

Mark’s jaw drops in surprise as he sees the crowd of campers waiting for them. There’s a banner that reads _Good Luck Mark, Renjun, and Jeno!!!_ hanging from the top of the Amphitheater’s wall of seats. Renjun barks out a laugh at the way everyone rushes them once they notice their presence. He makes his way through the crowd to find his siblings, while Mark thanks everyone who wishes him good luck.

He’s dragged through the crowd until he reaches the center. Mark hears a shout of _let’s get it!_ and a smile breaks out on his face. He does a 180 looking around the Amphitheater, in awe of the scene before him. Renjun catches his attention from where he’s laughing with his siblings. He feels a pain of loneliness bloom in his chest at the sight.

Renjun looks up at him and points and laughs at something behind Mark, and he turns around to find Jeno surrounded by every camper under the age of ten. He picks up one of the Aphrodite kids and lets her kiss him on the cheek. Mark’s heart warms at the scene, thinking about how good Jeno is with kids. Renjun walks up to him, weaving his way through the crowd, and hits him in the stomach. “Dude, you’re so obvious.”

“Obvious about what?” Mark asks, cocking his head in confusion.

Renjun stares at him and sighs. “And oblivious.”

Before Mark can say anything else Chiron yells, getting the attention of all the campers. Once all eyes are on him he speaks. “Campers, it’s time for the quest to start.” Shouts of joy are heard across the field. “Mark, Jeno, Renjun, we wish you the best of luck.” Mark’s chest fills with pride as he sees everyone cheer him on. Jeno looks around in surprise, not expecting the sheer amount of people excited for the quest.

Renjun runs up to Jeno and throws his arms around him. Mark can see Renjun stand up on his tiptoes to whisper something in his ear, probably some encouragements, and for the first time since the quest was issued he feels confident. 

Mark makes his way to the pair and wraps his arms around their necks. “We’re gonna do great.” Renjun leans up to ruffle his hair and Jeno looks up at him with fond eyes. “C’mon, let’s go.”

 

 

Mark’s good mood doesn’t disappear once they’re squished into the backseat of the camps SUV. Argus looks into the mirror expectantly once they get out onto the highway.

“There’s some railroads about two miles west, take us there,” Renjun says, consulting the map he suddenly has in his hands. It’s not the map Eros gave them, but a normal travelling map.

Jeno stares at him, head cocked to the side, looking so much like a puppy it physically hurts Mark. “Why the railroads?”

“You’ll see,” Renjun says, smiling in a way that scares Mark.

He suddenly remembers that Renjun spent the better part of two years travelling across the country. Mark narrows his eyes at him. “We’re not jumping a train.”

Renjun smiles cockily at him. “Are you sure about that?”

Mark makes the executive decision to ignore him in favor of staring out of the window. The farther and farther they get away from camp the more the feeling of finality settles into Mark’s bones. The next time he’ll be at camp he’ll either have failed or succeeded at his quest.

He turns to look at Jeno, who’s turned away from him. The trees blur as they race down the highway, greens and browns melting into each other. Jeno’s hands unconsciously zip and unzip his backpack, eyes focused on the window. Argus is humming along to the music playing softly from the SUV’s speakers, while Renjun consults his map.

The air in the car smells salty, like the ocean air. It doesn’t do anything to calm Mark’s nerves, but he settles back into his seat anyways, ready for the quest and all the bad things that might come with it. 

 

 

Mark loses the ability to breathe the second he sees Renjun’s smile after he spots the train he’s looking for. “That’s the one. It’s going to Manhattan.” He starts to make the trek towards the open compartment near the end, turning around when he realizes Mark and Jeno aren’t following him. “Come on pussies, let’s go.”

Jeno shrugs at him and follows Renjun, so Mark has no choice but to give in to him. Mark trips over one of the tracks and grabs onto Jeno, who steadies him, and sends him a soft smile. He almost trips again, but rights himself before he does.

Renjun hops up on the ledge gracefully, Jeno following in the same manor. Mark throws his backpack in before climbing up too, Jeno helpfully grabbing his hand to help pull him up. He surveys his surroundings, brushing his hands off on his pants. 

The train compartment is empty, save for a few boxes. The light filters in through the open door, but doesn’t quite reach the darkest corners of the box. Jeno swallows carefully and Mark sends a reassuring nod his way. 

“This is so cool,” Renjun says, eyes twinkling in the morning sun. “It’ll take under two hours to get there, I’m gonna nap.” And with that he pulls out a blanket and makes a home in one of the dark corners. 

Mark turns to Jeno once Renjun settles in, already asleep despite having literally just sat down. “His ability to fall asleep anywhere terrifies me.” Jeno laughs, but it does nothing to calm the nerves in his stomach.

“Hey,” Jeno says, noticing the anxious look on Mark’s face. “I know you’re nervous, but you’ll go great.”

“Thank you Jeno,” Mark says truthfully. “I’m glad I have you here with me.” Jeno smiles softly at him again, before finding a place to sit. The train starts, and before Mark knows it they’re on their way to Manhattan.


	2. mini death tells me to sit on renjun's knife

Jumping off of trains is easier than jumping on them, Mark finds once they reach Manhattan. Though it is scarier, considering the train is still moving when Renjun smiles wickedly at them and tells them to jump. Jeno stumbles once he hops down and Mark grabs a hold of him to steady him; he’s smiling at him up until Renjun jumps down almost on top of them, causing them to fall down onto the rocky ground.

“I hate you,” Jeno says as he clammers back up onto his feet, brushing off the mix of grass and rock dust off of his body. Mark shares the sentiment, scrunching up his face in discomfort when he discovers that there’s now a bunch of scratches on his knees. Fortunately, his palms are okay.

Renjun jumps up like he wasn’t tumbling out of a train compartment five seconds ago. “That’s not true,” he says, pulling his backpack up and rifling through it.

“Please tell me you’re getting the map and it tells us where to go and that we aren’t here with zero direction,” Jeno whines, glaring at Renjun.

Renjun huffs. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Being annoying?” Jeno shoots back.

Mark sighs and intervenes. “Renjun, what does the map say?”

“Give me a second, it’s at the bottom of my bag,” Renjun says, pulling out random things out of his backpack. There’s a pile next to him of regular maps, food, ambrosia, and what looks to be potion ingredients. Mark looks away when Renjun pulls out the third weapon in a row.

“Hopefully we don’t have to stay here long,” Mark says, trailing off towards the end. He looks out towards the skyline, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He’s looking for something, but he doesn’t know what, just that it’s out there.

“What’s wrong?” Jeno asks, eyes squinting as he looks in the direction Mark’s looking in. He must not find anything, probably because there’s nothing tangible there, so he turns back to look at Mark. He looks almost like a puppy and Mark swallows hard at the revelation.

Mark shakes his head, trying to get rid of the feeling. It still persists, but he doesn’t know what it means. “I don’t know, something just seems...off.” It’s almost like he’s being watched, like back at Camp Half Blood before Eros showed up and everything started.

Renjun looks between the two of them with a strange look on his face and then looks back at the map. “Weird feelings aside, how do you two feel about the suburbs?”

“What do we need there?” Mark asks, focusing his attention back on the quest.

“It doesn’t say, but there’s a heart on a random park,” Renjun says, tossing the map to him, “so I think we should go and find out what that’s about.”

Mark opens it up. The park doesn’t look far persay, but it doesn’t exactly look close. “How are we going to get there? Walk?”

“Mark, you have your learners permit right?” Renjun starts dangerously, “We can steal a car,” he continues when Mark apprehensively nods his head.

Mark regrettably considers it. “What happens if we get pulled over?” Jeno hits him on the arm and he shrugs, eyes wide, “Hey! If you have any other ideas I’d be glad to hear them.” Jeno doesn’t say anything, just turns his head away and whistles

“Dude do you know who my mom is?” Renjun says rhetorically. Everyone knows who Renjun’s mom is, he won’t let you forget it.

Renjun’s quite skilled in everything his mother specializes in. Do you want to make people see things that aren’t there? Go to Renjun. Want a potion that may or may not kill someone? Find Renjun, he probably already has one made up. In the mood to turn someone into a small rodent? Go to cabin 20 and ask for Huang Renjun.

Basically, Renjun’s scary, and even though Mark considers him a close friend, sometimes he questions if Renjun feels the same. The rules of knowing Renjun are: Don’t cross him, don’t let him do something without him explicitly telling you what he’s going to do, and don’t underestimate him.

They don’t end up stealing a car—that would be too much work, plus Jeno (thankfully) let’s them know that the park’s only a five minute walk from the railroad tracks. Good for Mark, because he really wasn’t in the mood to get arrested not even a day into his first quest.

Renjun chatters excitedly as they walk, wondering aloud about what awaits them in the park. Most of what he says are terrifying monsters, and the way he talks about the possibility of one waiting for them is unnerving to say the least. The odd feeling follows him as they walk away from the railroad; it’s almost like it gets more suffocating as they get closer and closer to the park.

Mark’s bad feeling gets worse the second they step in the park. A loud growl echoes around them that seems to reverberate through the park, causing the swing sets and jungle gyms to shake. Mark stops dead in his tracks.

“Fuck,” Renjun says, pulling out his knives.

They turn around slowly. Stalking towards them is a hellhound that makes the normally huge looking jungle gym appear small. Its blood red eyes sweep around its surroundings before settling on the trio. Time feels like it stops for a moment while it observes them.

Everything comes to a head when the hellhound bounds towards them, slimy mouth open in a snarl. Renjun is the first to lunge towards it, Jeno following him short after. Mark should join them, but they’re in a public park during the afternoon, there’s bound to be mortals straggling around. He turns, searching for anybody that’s become an unwilling part of the fight. There’s a creak to Mark’s right and he spins around to find a kid on the swings.

“Hey you! Kid, get out of here,” Mark yells, trying to get his attention. The kid looks up from where he’s kicking angrily at the sand and looks straight at Mark, then to the hellhound. Mark expects the mist to do its thing and make him think it’s a rabid dog or something equally not that dangerous, but the kid just rolls his eyes and continues swinging.

Mark falters, trying to decide between running towards the kid or the fight, when Jeno yells for him. “Mark, we need some help over here!”

That’s an understatement. Both of Renjun’s knives are gone, one stuck in the hellhound’s back, but it seems to have only made it angrier. Mark takes one last look at the kid—who is now sighing and plugging a pair of headphones into his phone—and runs towards the fight.

Mark pulls his sword out as he runs, sliding in between the hellhound and Jeno as it lunges, getting a jab in at it, but it doesn’t do much other than knock Mark off balance from the amount of force the hellhound was exuding.

Jeno steadies him, grabbing his waist, and Mark really doesn’t have the time to put a finger on why it makes his stomach flip. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Mark replies, eyes scanning for Renjun. “We should help Injunnie,” he says when he finds him, up off the ground, and a wild look in his eyes as he readies to fight the hellhound bare handed. Jeno sighs and nods, removing his hands and grabbing his shield, and the flipping in Mark’s stomach is replaced with a bitter emptiness.

Jeno runs towards Renjun, shield opening just as the hellhound swipes at him with a paw. Mark hears Renjun complain to Jeno about how he had it handled and sighs, slinking before the hellhound, looking for a way to kill it.

He sees an opportunity when Jeno knock the hellhound to the ground, exposing its ribcage. Mark grabs the hilt of his sword in both hands, bringing it down in an arc towards the hellhounds ribs. It wails, a horrible sound that almost brings Mark to his knees, and writhes around.

“I can’t hear my music over the sound of you guys fighting.”

Mark turns towards the voice, but that ends up being a mistake. One of the hellhound’s paws swipe at him and he falls. Bile rises in his throat but he forces it down, trying to get up and continue the fight.

He hears a deafening cracking noise and he thinks it’s just in his head until he realizes everyone around him has froze. A loud whine sounds out and Mark brushes his hair out of his eyes just in time to see the ground close up around the hellhound. Everything’s quiet, Renjun, Jeno, and Mark not daring to move or speak.

“You’re welcome.”

Renjun whips around. Mark and Jeno do the same and are faced with the kid from the swings. “What the fuck are you?” Renjun asks, already flipping his knives in his hands to serve as a show of his power, and as a nervous habit.

The kid scowls. “What the fuck are _you?”_

Renjun angrily opens his mouth to continue but Jeno cuts him off, stepping in front of him. “Stop, stop,” Jeno turns to look at the kid, “Explain.”

He shrugs. “I sent the hellhound back to Tartarus.” he shrugs offhandedly, eyes gleaming with something akin to amusement. “Good bye,” and with that, he walks away.

Renjun starts spluttering and Jeno furrows his brow in confusion. Mark slaps a hand on his forehead, understanding why Eros wanted them to come here. Renjun and Jeno look at him weirdly.

“Mini Death,” Mark says, eyes wide as he turns away from the two boys. He steps forward and grabs the kids arm. “You’re a son of Hades?”

He turns around and Mark feels a tug at his heart at the vulnerable look on his face. “You’re from Camp Half Blood right?” he looks so young. Mark nods. His face drops and he shakes Mark’s hand off of his arm, “Stay away from me.”

Mark watches, frozen, as the kid starts to walk out of the park. He makes a move to follow him when Renjun places a hand on his shoulder. “Mark…let him go.”

“It’s in the prophecy, we have to bring him home,” Mark replies almost like he’s in a trance, walking forward.

Renjun’s hand falls away as he stays still. Jeno doesn’t move either. “Mark just drop it.”

“No, I won’t,” Mark says, turning around to look at them before he takes off on a run in the direction the kid left in. Renjun and Jeno shout after him to stop, but he can’t. Mark can’t leave this kid alone, he needs to bring him back to camp where he can be with his own people.

Mark catches up with him, breathless and panting. He stares blankly at Mark as he catches his breath.

“I told you to leave me alone,” he says, and Mark grasps at any thought to try and get him to open up.

“What’s your name?” Mark asks, keeping up with his pace.

He side eyes Mark. “Jisung.”

That’s good, he knows his name now. “How old are you?”

“Twelve,” Jisung says, fingers playing with the cuffs of his jacket.

Mark feels a pang in his chest. “Gods...you’re just a baby.”

“No I’m not,” Jisung says forcefully, glaring at Mark.

Mark hears heavy footsteps behind them, the sound of running. Jeno and Renjun catch up to them, Renjun putting a hand on Mark’s shoulder as a silent attempt to get him to drop it. Mark brushes it off. “Jisung, come with us back to camp. We can help you.”

Jisung opens his mouth to speak when Renjun cuts him off. “Mark we’re not even going to Camp Half Blood, we’re on a _quest,”_ he says, voice forceful on the last word.

“A quest?” Jisung laughs, “Oh don’t tell me, it’s your first one too.”

Renjun looks like he wants to punch Jisung.

“Jisung, please come with us,” Mark says, desperation seeping into his words. He doesn’t know why he’s so desperate to get Jisung to come with them, maybe it’s the fact that he reminds him of himself.

A look of consideration quickly flashes over Jisung’s face. It’s gone as quick as it came, Jisung schooling his face back into the blank expression he’s had on since Mark caught up to him. “Go sit on the tiny one’s knife.” He turns around and runs up the path of the nearest house, slipping through the front door, and slamming it shut with as much force a skinny twelve year old can produce.

Mark stares at the door. There’s movement in the window and Mark sees a woman, probably Jisung’s mom, peek out at them. He turns to look at a very annoyed Renjun and an artfully impartial Jeno. “I’m not leaving here without him.”

His words must sound final because Jeno sighs and opens the gate, making his way up towards the door. Mark turns to Renjun. “Please Junnie, I know you’re not happy with this but we need him.” Jeno’s already knocking on the door, and Mark stares at Renjun hopefully. Renjun sighs and forcefully pushes open the gate, making his way to Jeno.

“Hurry up Mark,” Renjun shouts back at a shocked Mark as the door starts to open. Mark runs up the rest of the path, settling in between Jeno and Renjun just as the door fully opens.

The same woman from the window opens the door. She surveys their orange Camp Half Blood shirts and sighs, not even saying hello as she steps back and opens the door wide enough for them to walk through. They file into the living room and Mark turns to her. “Hello.”

She opens her mouth to say something when they hear loud footsteps. “Didn’t I tell you three to leave me alone?” All four of them turn to look at Jisung.

“Jisung—” Mark starts to try to explain why they _need_ him when Jisung scowls, turning to his mom.

“Tell them to leave.”

Jisung’s mom hesitates. “Honey, I think we should hear them out.” Jisung glares at them and stomps out of the room. She turns to them, a tight smile on his face. “You boys look thirsty, come, I’ll get you some water bottles.”

She leads them into the kitchen; there’s a plate of warm cookies on the counter, and all three of them eye it. “Help yourselves,” she says, handing them each a water bottle.

They down half of their water bottles and scarf down a cookie each before Jisung’s mom speaks again. “You know who his dad is right?” Renjun steps away from her as Mark nods. “Would he be safer there?” Her voice is desperate, almost pleading, and Mark feels for her.

He can’t imagine what it feels like for her, knowing her son is powerful and feared, and hunted by every monster on earth. Mark’s never talked to his mom about it, but he remembers hearing her cry late at night, letting her fears out once she though he wasn’t there to see it.

Mark sucks in a breath, thinking about Jisung and how much he hates them, his mother and how he’d do anything to make her think that having a demigod son was worth it, and how desperately he wants to succeed—not just in this quest, but in life. He doesn’t want to die young. “I think he would, but I also think he’s scared.”

Her hands shake as she grabs her necklace. The charm at the end is a key, and somehow Mark knows it’s from Hades. “It’s not easy being a demigod, let alone being a child of the Big Three, and yeah, some people might still have prejudices against Jisung because of their fear of his father, but in the long run I do believe it will be worth it.”

“I don’t want my baby to die,” she breathes out, delicately fingering the charm.

Mark spots Jisung watching him from the doorway from the corner of his eye. “I promise that if Jisung comes with us I’ll deliver him safely to Camp Half Blood, and there he will learn how to survive.”

“You promise?”

Mark swallows. “I swear on the River Styx that I will see Jisung safely to Camp Half Blood.”

Jisung bursts into the kitchen the second he stops talking. “That was stupid of you Mark. You can’t take that back.”

Mark turns to look at Jisung and sees his younger self in him, scared and painfully alone. “I don’t plan on it.” A book bag propped against the doorframe catches his attention. “You are coming with us, right?”

Jisung nods, slinking forward to hug his mom. She squeezes him tight, whispering in his ear. Out of the corner of his eye Mark sees Renjun openly stare at them. Jeno looks awkward, not really knowing what to do, and a small smile breaks out on Mark’s face.

“I’ll walk you boys out,” Jisung’s mom says after he pulls away. Mark makes a point not to look into Jisung’s teary eyes, not wanting to embarrass him.

She does what she says she was going to do, ruffling each boys hair before she sends them off, pressing one last kiss to Jisung’s forehead. Mark turns around to look at her when they reach the gate. She looks worried but relieved at the same time, and more than ever does Mark want to make sure he brings Jisung home safely. If only just to make sure she doesn’t have to go through the heartbreak of losing a child.

They all file in line, Jeno and Jisung in front and Renjun next to Mark in the back. Jeno’s asking Jisung questions about himself, and Jisung’s trying his best to act like he hates the fact that he’s here right now. Mark smiles at them, but it falls off his face when he turns to see Renjun scowling at the back of Jisung’s head.

“What’s wrong Junnie?” Mark asks, kind of afraid of the answer.

Renjun kicks at a rock. “This is a bad idea Mark.” It flies forward, past the two boys in front of them.

“What is?” Mark asks, watching as Jisung kicks the rock too, and the resulting frown it puts on Renjun’s face.

“Bringing _him_ with us,” Mark watches as Jisung tenses up at Renjun’s words and sighs.

Mark turns to Renjun, who kicks the rock again once they reach it. “Jisung? He saved our lives in that park, I think he’s going to be really helpful.”

“His dad is _Hades,”_ Renjun spits the words out like they taste horrible, and Mark presses his lips into a tight line.

“So? What’s your problem with that?” Renjun doesn’t answer his question, just huffs and marches forward, grabbing Jisung’s arm, and pulling him back to take his place beside Jeno. He pettily wipes his hand on Jeno’s shirt.

Jisung looks hurt and almost like he’s about to run away, so Mark places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t mind him, he’s just worried about the quest,” Mark says, and somehow he can tell his words had no effect in calming him down.

“Where are we going?” Jisung asks softly after twenty minutes of walking away from his house.

Mark falters. He has no idea. “Renjun?”

“What,” Renjun’s tone is slightly less venomous than earlier, so Mark assumes he’s calmed down at least a little bit.

“Where are we going?” Mark repeats Jisung’s question.

“We’re in Manhattan and I refuse to let picking up this pest,” he jabs a thumb at Jisung, “be the only thing we do here.”

“What does that mean?” Jeno speaks up.

 

Renjun scowls. “It means I want to do something fun before we start on this quest.”

“Renjun you do know we’re on a time limit, right?”

“Whatever, can we at least get some food before we leave?”

Mark sighs and nods. “As long as it’s not too expensive, we don’t have a lot of cash.”

Mark finds himself squished into a McDonald’s booth not even ten minutes later. There seems to be an abundance of them in Manhattan, but it’s not like he’s complaining, you could never go wrong with chicken nuggets and fries.

“So,” Jisung starts, taking a sip of his Dr. Pepper. “What exactly is this quest about?”

“Basically, we have to find a bunch of ingredients for a potion,” Jeno says, stealing two of Mark’s fries.

Jisung squints at him. “Sounds lame.” Renjun snorts, immediately covering it up with a cough when he notices Mark smiling at him.

“Eros himself came to camp to issue me the quest,” Mark boasts, “That sound lame to you Jisung?”

Jisung shrugs. “Could’ve been a cooler God, like Athena or Hecate.” Renjun perks up at the mention of his mom, if not only slightly, but the smugness on his face is enough to convince Mark that everything’s going to work out.

“You don’t consider your dad a cool God?”

“No?” Jisung says, confused. “Why would I?” Everyone laughs. Jisung looks at them in confusion, but eventually shrugs his shoulders and grabs a couple chicken nuggets from one of the boxes in the middle of the table.

“You’re a disgrace.” Renjun says.

Jisung looks up from where he’s dunking a nugget into some ketchup. “Why is that?”

“Ketchup is nasty.”

“Your face is nasty.” Jisung shoots back.

Renjun scowls. “What are you, twelve?”

“Yeah,” Jisung deadpans.

Renjun turns to Mark, face redder than the ketchup he hates so damn much. “Mark,” he murmurs quietly, “I’m gonna fucking fight him.”

“Please don’t make a scene in the middle of this McDonald’s,” Mark says, calmly eating his own lunch.

“It’s not like they haven’t seen their fair share of fights.”

“Renjun you are fourteen years old, how lame of you to want to fight an innocent twelve year old.” Jeno says, grabbing Jisung and pulling him into his side. Jisung snuggles into his shoulder, and when Jeno closes his eyes, mouth set in a sweet smile, he sticks his tongue out at Renjun.

Mark has to physically hold Renjun back from jumping across the table and decking Jisung in the face.

“Anyways,” Mark says, a hand clutching Renjun’s collar, “Jisung, tell us about you.”

“All you need to know is that I’m cooler than you losers.”

“Mark _please_ let me kick his ass, please oh my god,” Renjun groans while Jisung smugly smirks at him.

Jeno watches them in thinly veiled amusement. “You two get along….well.”

“I promise I will _never_ get along with this _punk,”_ Renjun says, eyes narrowed.

_“Okayyyy,”_ Jeno sing-songs, eyes shaped into crescents.

Mark stares. Jisung turns his smirk onto him when he notices, and Mark flushes, averting his eyes. He turns to Jeno, eyes alight with amusement. “Are you and Mark like,” he does some crude gesture with his hands, _“together?”_

Jeno’s eyes widen and Mark’s mouth drops open. Renjun chokes on his soda. Jisung watches the scene with fire in his eyes, a hand coming up to hit Renjun to the back a little harder than necessary.

This quest is going to be a nightmare.

 

 

The bus station isn’t all that crowded, which surprises Mark, but no one seems to pay attention to four minors stressing as they look around. It’s also surprisingly clean, not at all what Mark expected from New York. The lady behind the ticket counter even smiles at him a bit.

Mark flinches as he looks at the bus ticket prices, realising they barely have enough to buy tickets for three people, let alone four. “Guys,” Mark says, getting everyone’s attention, eyes still focused on the prices. “we don’t have enough money, and we don’t even know where we’re going.”

Jisung stares at him incredulously. “They sent you on this quest with no money and no directions? That’s gotta count as child abuse right? Or neglect.”

Mark ignores him in favor of turning to Jeno. He nods his head and pulls out the map, unfolding it carefully. A large grin blooms on his face as he tips the map so Mark can see. There’s a giant heart over a place south of them. “Boston,” Jeno says, looking back up at Mark. His heart flips when he looks Jeno in the eyes. “My home.”

Renjun pushes past them, whispering something under his breath about annoying lovesick fools, and looks up at the board. “We have enough for four tickets to Boston.”

Mark turns around to find Renjun rifling through a wallet that he knows damn well isn’t his property. Trust him, he watched Renjun empty his back pack two hours ago. “Renjun what the fuck.”

“What? We needed the money,” Renjun says, pulling out all the cash and tossing the wallet to Jeno.

Mark runs a hand through his hair, wondering how in Tartarus they got here. “That doesn’t mean you can pickpocket people!”

“Welcome to New York, Mark Lee,” Renjun says, patting him twice on the chest, hard.

“I lived in Queens most of my life,” Mark breathes out, rubbing the spot where Renjun hit him, trying to get rid of the sting.

Renjun rolls his eyes at him, and Mark knows he’s lost. “Okay, Canada.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys enjoy chapter two!!! please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!!

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!! i'm so nervous to post this lol
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/nctskz) // [cc](https://curiouscat.me/vampjeno)


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